CMU defense shows vast improvements despite loss at Arizona

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TUCSON, Ariz. — The football team’s defensive side of the ball showed speed that was not on display last season.

The secondary, which ranked 118th of 119 teams in Division-I, held Arizona to just 202 yards passing Saturday night.

The secondary’s play was highlighted by the acrobatic interception by senior cornerback Josh Gordy.

“I took a gamble on it,” he said. “I undercut the route. Last minute, it got lost in the lights, so I just through a hand up where I expected it was going to be. I felt it hit my hand (and) I relocated it.”

Gordy said the secondary used its weak statistical standing as motivation for the coming season.

“It gave us some insight going into the season,” he said. “(our performance) shows that we made great strides in the offseason.”

Junior linebackers Nick Bellore and Matt Berning each had eight solo tackles and ten total tackles. Bellore also had two tackles for loss.

Bellore still found facets of the game the defense can improve on.

“It was completely our fault,” he said. “On third down, we just weren’t getting off the field. It’s nobody’s fault except ours.”

Despite a strong showing against the pass, CMU gave up 246 rushing yards to Wildcats runners.

Coach Butch Jones said the the rest of the team failed to put the defense in positions where it could be successful.

“Part of playing good defense is not putting your defense in bad positions, which is exactly what we did tonight,” he said. “I thought our defense did a good job considering the circumstances.”

One of those circumstances was the offense’s inability to gain a first down to start the game. CMU did not gain a first down until senior quarterback Dan LeFevour completed a pass to junior wide receiver Kito Poblah with just over one minute remaining in the half.

Arizona led the time of possession battle by more than 15 minutes of playing time.

Also, with the score 3-0 in favor of Arizona in the first quarter, junior wide receiver Antonio Brown fumbled a punt return, which gave the Wildcats the ball at the CMU 28-yard line.

The defense was able to hold Arizona to seven yards and a field goal on the drive.

“Anytime you turn the ball over it hurts you,” Jones said. “(When) we turn it over twice in the first half, that’s unacceptable.”

Despite allowing 448 yards of total offense, CMU held Arizona to 17 points less than its game average of a year ago (36.6).